twenty-six Christians were condemned to suffer the barbarous punishment of crucifixion. Among this noble company of heroes were three young boys, the oldest of whom was not more than fifteen years of age. These generous youths showed no less courage than those who were more advanced in years; and the youngest especially, a boy of ten, named Louis, was remarkable for the extreme eagerness and joy with which he welcomed his cruel martyrdom. The Japanese general, touched with pity at his youth and amiable qualities, offered him, not only his life, but a place in his own household, on condition that he would abandon his religion; but Louis nobly answered, "On such a worthless condition as you propose, I reject the offer of life. Would you have me barter eternal happiness for a few fleeting years of temporal existence? The same generous child, on arriving at the place of execution, as soon as the cross which was prepared for him, and which was smaller and shorter than the others, was pointed out, ran eagerly to it and stretched himself upon it, exclaiming, Paradise, Paradise." The same cheerful readiness was displayed by the rest of this noble band, who esteemed themselves happy to die for Jesus, and to die on the cross. Their hands and feet being secured to the wood by means of iron rings, according to the custom of the country, the crosses were raised in the air, and let fall into the holes which had been dug to receive them. On being raised aloft upon his cross, the young Antony, who had been taught by the Jesuit fathers to chant the Divine Office, began to intone the psalm "Laudate pueri Dominum; Praise the Lord ye children." Meanwhile the rest of the holy martyrs encouraged each other, and exhorted the people, who stood in crowds to witness the moving sight. At length, at a given signal, the executioners approached, and, passing from one to another among the glorious band, pierced them with their spears, and thus set free their happy souls to fly to the embraces of their crucified God. This noble company of martyrs have been lately canonised by our holy Pontiff, Pope Pius IX.-Jesuit Martyrs of Japan.

In the eagerness of these glorious martyrs, some of them mere children like yourselves, to suffer and die for Christ, you see the exact fulfilment of those words of our Lord, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself."* And again, "Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise." +

The day on which our Blessed Redeemer died on the cross, is called Good Friday. It is called Good, because the Goodness of God to man has been more displayed on this day than on any other, namely, by his dying a cruel death to redeem us. Moreover, there is no other day in the year on which so great a good has come to us, as on this day, on which the anger of God was appeased, and the work of our Redemption accomplished.

To remind us of the great mysteries of our Blessed Lord's Passion and Death, and also to excite us to a lively sorrow for our sins, which have been the cause of his cruel sufferings, the Church has appointed that on this day the cross, which has been veiled with purple in sign of grief, since Passion Sunday, should be uncovered, and that all the faithful should come and kneel before, and kiss the image of our crucified Saviour. This beautiful ceremony is called the Kissing of the Cross, and sometimes the Adoration of the Cross. Protestants say that this is idolatry, but you know very well that you do not adore the cross, as if it were God, which would be idolatry indeed, but that you honour it with a less and inferior honour out of respect to Him, who died upon it. He it is, who died upon the cross, whom we adore; and, out of reverence and love for Him,

we kneel before and kiss that which reminds us of his sufferings. This lesser and relative honour used in former times to be called adoration, and in this sense the word adoration is often used in the Holy Scriptures, as when we read of Abraham falling down and adoring the three Angels who were sent by God to destroy the wicked city of Sodom.* If, then, you take adoration to mean, as it used to mean, and as it still means in speaking of the cross, a less and inferior honour, which may be paid to creatures, it is true to say that we do adore the Cross. But if you mean by adoration that highest kind of honour, which can only be paid to God, which is now the general meaning of the word, then it is not the Cross we adore, but Him who died upon the Cross.

CONVERSION OF ST. JOHN GUALBERT.

St. John Gualbert, a holy monk, and the founder of a religious order, may be said to have owed his conversion to an act of virtue, which he performed one Good Friday, in honour of our Blessed Lord's Death upon the Cross. He was at that time a gay young nobleman, full of spirit and of courage, but unhappily he cherished in his heart a bitter feeling of revenge against a neighbouring gentleman, who in a quarrel had killed his brother Hugh. John had determined to take the life of the murderer wherever he should find him, and he was encouraged in this resolution by his father, who told him that this was the only way to wipe out the insult offered to the honour of the family.

While the young nobleman was occupied only with thoughts of revenge, and was eagerly seeking an opportunity for the commission of the deed, it happened that, riding to Florence upon Good Friday, he met the murderer in so narrow a passage that it was impossible for either of them to avoid the other. John, who was armed, and attended by his servant, immediately drew his sword, and was going to despatch his enemy, when suddenly the latter, falling on his knees, and stretching out his arms in the form of a cross, besought him, for the love of Jesus Christ, who was crucified on that very day, to spare his life. The remembrance of Christ, who prayed for his murderers on the cross, exceedingly affected the young

*Gen. xviii. 2.

nobleman. He threw himself from his horse, and gently raised the suppliant with his hand, saying, “I can refuse nothing that is asked of me for the sake of Jesus Christ. I not only give you your life, but also my friendship for ever. Pray for me that God may pardon me my sins." They then embraced each other and parted. Continuing his journey, John entered the first church that he came to, and, prostrating himself in prayer before a large crucifix, begged with many tears and earnest supplications that God would grant him pardon for his sins. Hereupon the crucifix bowed its head as if in token that his prayer was heard, and that the generous sacrifice, which he had made of his resentment, was accepted by God. Attached to this church was a Benedictine Monastery, to which the young nobleman repaired as soon as he had finished his prayer, in order to beg the favour of admission. His request was granted, and from that time he gave himself up entirely to prayer and works of penance, by which he made such rapid progress in virtue that he became an illustrious Saint, and a bright ornament of the Church of Christ. -Butler's Saints' Lives.

Q. Where did He suffer?
A. On Mount Calvary.

Our Blessed Lord suffered upon Mount Calvary. This, my dear children, was the public place of execution for criminals, and was situated just outside of the city of Jerusalem. The word Calvary means properly the place of skulls, and it was so called, no doubt, from the number of human skulls which were found in the ground about, for the criminals were commonly buried close by the spot where they were executed. Our Blessed Lord, also, was buried at a little distance from the spot where he had suffered; but His Sacred Body was laid by St. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus in a private tomb, hewn out of the solid rock, and in which no man had yet been laid. This tomb is situated at the foot of Mount Calvary, and a splendid church was afterwards erected over it by St. Helen, mother of Constantine the Great, which is called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

THE FINDING OF THE TRUE CROSS.

When Constantine the Great had, by his miraculous victory over the pagan Emperor, Maxentius, put a stop to the long persecution, and established the Christian religion throughout his dominions, his pious mother, St. Helen, though then eighty years of age, undertook a journey to the Holy Land to satisfy her devotion by visiting the Holy Places. Being arrived at Jerusalem, she was filled with a longing desire of finding the very cross on which our Blessed Lord had suffered and died. On consulting the oldest and most experienced of the inhabitants, she was informed that, if she could only find the place of our Lord's Burial, she would be sure to find his cross at a little distance, as it was the custom among the Jews to bury all the instruments of execution near to the body of the criminal. St. Helen accordingly caused all the profane buildings in the neighbourhood to be cleared away, and especially a temple of Venus, which the pagans had built over the very spot where our Blessed Lord had been buried. Then, digging to a great depth, she found not only the tomb, but likewise three crosses, with the nails and other instruments of the Passion.

It was now plain that one of these three crosses was that on which our Blessed Lord had died, and that the other two were the crosses of the two thieves. But how were they to distinguish which was the one they were in search of? In this difficulty the holy Bishop Macarius, knowing that one of the principal ladies of the city lay extremely ill, suggested to the Empress that the three crosses should be carried in solemn procession to the sick person, not doubting that God would discover by a miracle which was the cross on which his Divine Son had died for our Redemption. This being done, St. Macarius, after earnest prayer, applied the crosses singly to the sick lady, who, at the touch of the third, was restored to perfect health. St. Helen, filled with joy, built a magnificent church over the spot where she had discovered the sacred relic, and there placed part of the precious wood, enclosed in a costly case. The remainder she carried to Europe, and deposited a portion of it at Rome, in the Church of the Holy Cross, which she built to receive it, and where it remains to the present day.-Butler's Saints' Lives.

Q. Why do we make the sign of the cross?

A. To put us in mind of the Blessed Trinity; and that God the Son died for us upon the cross.